Democrat culture of corruption screws up Obama

Jack Kelly:

When in the last election Democrats spoke of a "culture of corruption" in Washington, few realized they were making a promise.

The Obama administration is not yet three weeks old but already features a growing collection of ethically challenged officials.

The late-night comics have noticed. "There was a huge scientific breakthrough today," said Jay Leno. "Researchers say they are very close to finding someone from Obama's Cabinet who's actually paid their taxes."

Mr. Leno was referring to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, whose nomination for secretary of health and human services was withdrawn after it was disclosed that he didn't pay $101,000 worth of taxes owed for a car and driver, or $83,000 on consulting income, and Timothy Geithner, who was confirmed as treasury secretary despite his failure to pay payroll taxes for four years.

Hours before Mr. Daschle withdrew his nomination Tuesday, Nancy Killefer withdrew hers as chief compliance officer when it was revealed that the District of Columbia had placed a lien on her Wesley Heights mansion for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax for a household employee.

Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif, the nominee for secretary of labor, apparently violated House rules by failing to disclose she was an officer of a group lobbying Congress.

Eric Holder was confirmed as attorney general despite having circumvented Justice Department rules -- when he was deputy attorney general in the waning days of the Clinton administration -- to obtain a pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich. In a 2002 report, the House Government Operations Committee described Mr. Holder's behavior in the Rich affair as "unconscionable."

On Jan. 6, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew as the nominee for secretary of commerce when it was disclosed that the FBI was investigating him in connection with a "pay-to-play" scandal.

Gov. Richardson was, many think, President Obama's second choice. Mr. Obama was thought to have wanted to name Penny Pritzker, his campaign finance chairman, to the commerce post, but feared that doing so might bring unwelcome scrutiny to her role in the subprime mortgage crisis. (Ms. Pritzker pioneered the nefarious instruments at her now defunct Superior bank in suburban Chicago.)

President Obama on Monday chose Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire for the commerce post. So on Wednesday we learn that Mr. Gregg's former legislative director was tangentially involved in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

The most recent candidate in the malleable ethics sweepstakes is Ron Sims, chosen Monday to be deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As King County (Seattle) executive, Mr. Sims was fined $124,000 for "blatant" violations of Washington state's public records act for failure to release documents having to do with the financing of the stadium where the Seattle Seahawks play. Last month the state Supreme Court said the fine should be increased.

...

There is more. It is too bad that the media does not give Democrat corruption the same scrutiny as Republican corruption. Many seem to take a tut-tut attitude toward it or even blame Republicans for bringing it up as Andre Mitchell did recently after Daschle withdrew. When Republicans get caught there seems to be a special relish in the coverage and a piling on effect.

This type of coverage builds momentum for change, It has effected Democrats some in the past as the House Bank and House Post Office scandals did before 1994. In this case the Democrats have lost much of their credibility on the tax issue, which should hopefully make it difficult for them to raise taxes.